Greece’s prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, and main opposition leader, Kyriakos Mitsotakis from conservative New Democracy, exchanged “French” for the sake of homme fatal, the EU Commissioner, Pierre Moscovici, during a Plenary debate about Greek economy on Thursday. Reason for the verbal duel between the prime minister and the main opposition leader were the recent statements by EU Financial Affairs Commissioner, Pierre Moscovici, that the Eurogroup agreement on June 21st was not a fourth bailout agreement and that the austerity measure of further pension cuts might be reversed.

“You are a political crook,” Tsipras said addressing Mitsotakis, “Υou have political audacity, boldness and you proved that with the attack at Moscovici.. If he lied then also Juncker lied who in this plenary spoke of clean exit from the bailout program.”

Describing Mitsotakis as a “product of the business elite,” Tsipras said “You desperately want to pensions cuts, you tread that they won’t be implemented. There is no bottom in the barrel of your self-indulgence!,” the prime minister said among others.

“You are a liar and a sycophant,” Mitsotakis lashed out at to Tsipras. You wanted to change Europe but ended up to be the errant boy!. ND “will demand and achieve the reduction of primary surpluses because it’s unfair for Greeks to pay, two generations forward, for Tsipras’ incompetence and delusions,” the ND leader shouted, He accused accused the government of “promoting the storyline that legislated measures on pension reductions may be suspended” although the measures, which kick in on January 1, 2019, “were not foreseen in the third program (memorandum) and are the price paid for your own lack of credibility.”

“With fiestas and ties there will be no exit from the crisis,” Mitsotakis team uploaded on Twitter.

Right after the Commissioner’s statements on Tuesday, New Democracy attacked Moscovici with top ND official Costis Hatzidakis to openly saying that Moscovici is “winking at the left.”

In comments to an Athens radio station, Hatzidakis charged that Moscovici was actively campaigning for the EU Commission presidency, whereby he’ll need the support by Europe’s socialists, “and is also winking at the left”.

“The [Tsipras] government cannot be saved; the bill is very high for pensioners and every Greek family… a deficit of trust is enormous, people wish for this farce […] to end,” the former ND minister said.

During Moscovici presence at the Greek Palriament on Tuesday, ND was pressingly asking the commissioner to commit himself on where there would be further pension cuts in next year. Moscovici had earlier said the creditors and the government would discuss the issue in upcoming October.

This has immensely angered the country’s main opposition party that has been pressingly asking for snap elections and apparently is preparing a pre-elections program.

On his part, Moscovici said at the plenary of European Palriament on Wednesday, that the claims that the Eurogroup decision was “a fourth bailout” are “absolutely lies.”

[Greek politicians] must be very careful and to not conceal the truth,” Moscovici said in a speech at the EP. “The 4th program is a complete lie,” he stressed adding: “The Greek politicians, on the basis of what I heard yesterday, must be very careful with what they say and especially to not hide the truth.” “Enhanced surveillance is not a fourth program. Those who talk about the 4th program are lying, ” Moskovic said.

PS The problem of ND right now is that while Tsipras shows towards the future, the conservatives of ND are stuck in the past. They need urgently to review narrative if they want their strategy to succeed… whether the elections will take place in autumn of this or of next year. They keep reiterating the same and the same and the same narrative and wording since Mitsotakis was elected to be ND Chairman in 2016.